Legends of the Old West - BILLY THE KID Ep. 8 | “On The Run”

Episode Date: June 2, 2021

Exactly one year after the murder of John Tunstall, a Lincoln County miracle occurs: Jimmy Dolan and Billy Bonney make peace. The two warring factions agree to stop fighting, but the armistice doesn't hold. As Billy pursues a risky plan to earn a pardon from the new governor, a murder shatters the peace agreement and threatens Billy's hopes for amnesty.  Join Black Barrel+ for bingeable seasons with no commercials: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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big changes came to New Mexico Territory. After an investigation by a government agent, President Rutherford B. Hayes removed Governor Samuel Axtell from office. Authors said later that Axtell wasn't actually a bad governor, he was just easily persuaded by the corrupt men around him. Either way, he was out. And so was U.S. Attorney Thomas Catron, the leader of the Santa Fe Ring. U.S. Attorney Thomas Catron, the leader of the Santa Fe Ring, but neither faced criminal charges or any real consequences for their actions during the years that the Santa Fe Ring controlled New Mexico. President Hayes appointed Lew Wallace the new governor of New Mexico territory.

When Wallace arrived, he surveyed the mess in Lincoln County. He pushed the military commander of the New Mexico District to remove Colonel Dudley from Fort Stanton, but his wish was granted. Dudley was out, and a new man was in charge of the fort. And then, in mid-November 1878, Governor Wallace made a declaration. He offered amnesty for all crimes committed in Lincoln County between February 18th, the day John Tunstall was killed, and this day, November 13th. But there was a catch. The pardon only applied to crimes that had not been indicted. So if you had participated in the killing of someone but had not been indicted. So, if you had participated in the killing of someone but had not been indicted for it, you were free to go. But Billy and virtually all of the regulators had already been indicted for

one murder or another, so they were naturally wary of the declaration by this new governor. The prospect of freedom was enticing, though. It was enough to draw Billy home. With the possibility of peace in his grasp, Billy Bonney returned to Lincoln County. But another murder changed everything. He was destined to be an outlaw for the rest of his life. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch.

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all lowercase. Go to shopify.com slash R-E-A-L-M now to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com slash realm. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this is a 10-part series about the most notorious outlaw in the history of the American West, Billy the Kid. This is Episode 8, On the Run. During the final six months of 1878, Susan McSween had spoken loudly and publicly about her hatred of Colonel Nathan Dudley. She blamed him for the murder of her husband. Dudley had not actually pulled the trigger, of course, but he stood by and allowed it to happen. Susan's constant agitation was what finally prompted the new

governor to push for Dudley's removal. Her first step in the campaign was to hire a lawyer, Houston Chapman, and it was his murder that shattered the hope of peace for Billy Bonney. Billy, Tom O'Folliard, Doc Scurlock, and a couple other friends returned to Lincoln sometime in the second half of November or the first half of December. They thought they might be able to take advantage of Governor Wallace's offer of a pardon, even though they were under indictment for murder. When Billy and Tom returned to New Mexico, some of the players had changed,

but the situation in Lincoln was still tense. A new governor and a new U.S. attorney were at the top of the political hierarchy, and just recently a new sheriff hadS. attorney were at the top of the political hierarchy, and just recently a new sheriff had taken office in Lincoln. George Pepin was out, and George Kimball was in. But Jimmy Dolan and his henchmen were still in town. Over the next couple months, while Susan's lawyer, Houston Chapman, worked the legal system against Colonel Dudley, Billy's men and Dolan's men coexisted without killing each other. It wasn't perfect harmony, but it wasn't open warfare either,

like it had been six months ago. By mid-February 1879, the two sides were ready to talk about peace. On February 18th, exactly one year after the murder of John Tunstall, Billy's men and Dolan's men met to discuss an armistice. The initial meeting took place in true Lincoln County style. Billy's men stood behind one adobe wall and Jimmy Dolan's men stood behind another. They talked across the walls to each other for fear of a gunfight breaking out. But before long, they were persuaded to come out from behind their barriers and meet in person. Billy was with Tom O'Folliard, Doc Scurlock, and several others. Jimmy Dolan was accompanied by Billy Matthews, outlaw Captain Jesse Evans, and a new man, Billy Campbell.

Campbell was the range boss for ringleader Thomas Catron. He was an aggressive man with a mean disposition and a hair-trigger temper. Not surprisingly, Campbell would cause the trouble that night. would cause the trouble that night. When the two sides came out from behind their walls, the peace conference took a potentially deadly turn. Outlaw Captain Jesse Evans said a deal could not be made with someone like Billy Bonney. He said they should shoot Billy where he stood.

Billy responded by saying they were there to talk about peace, and he didn't want to start it off with a fight. Luckily, tensions cooled, and they got down to business. Jimmy Dolan and Billy Bonney reached an agreement and put their provisions in writing. The peace treaty had six articles. 1. No member of either party could kill a member of the other party without first withdrawing from the agreement. 2. People who qualified as friends of either side were not to be harmed in any way. 3. No soldier could be killed for any act that happened before the agreement.

any act that happened before the agreement. 4. No person on either side would give evidence against or testify against a member of the other side. 5. Both sides would help each other resist arrest if needed, or if arrested, the two sides would work together to get their men released. 6. And most important, if any man on either side failed to abide by these provisions, he should be killed on sight. The agreement was a great example of the Old West era.

Four of the six articles dealt directly with violence and murder specifically. The two sides managed to hold it together for no more than a couple hours. By the end of the night, the murder of a friend had happened, and Billy was back on the run. After Dolan's men and Billy's men signed the agreement, they celebrated. As they drank and partied into the night, the new sheriff spotted Billy. He had an arrest warrant for the captain of the regulators. But knowing Billy to be well-armed and accompanied by several friends,

the sheriff slipped out of town to get help. Sheriff Kimball rode to Fort Stanton to get assistance from the army. While he was gone, the lawyer, Houston Chapman, arrived in Lincoln. He parked his horse and buggy in the corral and walked into town. As he walked up the street, he ran into the group of men who were celebrating an agreement that would stop the violence between them. Billy Campbell, the hothead foreman of Thomas Catron's ranch, stopped Chapman in the street. Campbell jammed his pistol into Chapman's midsection and began interrogating the lawyer about his identity and his business. Chapman was not

afraid. He said his name and stated that his business was his own. He seemed to know generally who the mob was, but in the darkness, he must not have been able to see them clearly. He asked if he was speaking to Jimmy Dolan. Jesse Evans responded by saying, no, but you're speaking to a damned good friend of his. After that, two shots exploded at point-blank range. Houston Chapman fell to the ground. Billy Campbell announced proudly that he had just killed the lawyer, and then they all continued to walk up the street to another restaurant, where they ordered more food and drink. Billy Bonney had been present for the unexpected assault, but he was worried about the heat it would bring down on them.

After the group arrived at the restaurant, Billy found a way to escape without drawing attention. He met up with his friend Tom O'Folliard and they raced out of town. The peace conference could not have ended in a worse way. He had come back to Lincoln to try to earn a pardon and live free and clear. But instead, he was party to another murder. And he was smart to leave when he did. The next day, a coroner's jury convened to hear testimony about the murder of Houston Chapman,

but it was a pointless exercise. Everyone in town was so scared of Jimmy Dolan's gunman that no verdict was reached, and no one was charged for the murder. Sheriff Kimball came back to town with some soldiers, and they searched high and low for Billy Bonney, but they made no attempt to arrest anyone for the murder of Houston Chapman. Finally, it fell to the new governor, Lou Wallace, to make changes in Lincoln. He was tired of the violence and the ineffectual military, so he went to work. in the ineffectual military, so he went to work.

With the help of Susan McSween's campaign against Dudley, Wallace convinced the military commander of New Mexico to suspend the colonel and transfer him to another post. Then Wallace made a list of 35 men he wanted arrested. He formed a local militia called the Lincoln County Rifles to hunt down the men on the list, and he made Juan Patron its commander. Patron was a longtime friend of McSween and hater of Jimmy Dolan. Patron was the man who had driven John Tunstall to Lincoln for the first time after they had met in Santa Fe three years ago. Now, Patron was supposed to team up with the new commander at Fort Stanton to arrest all the major players in Lincoln County, the Regulators, Dolan's men, the Seven Rivers Ranchers, and many more.

The militia, with cavalry support, rode down the street to Jimmy Dolan's store and promptly arrested Dolan, Evans, and Campbell. They locked their prisoners in the guardhouse at Fort Stanton and went back on the hunt. At that point, Governor Wallace received a letter that brightened the situation. Billy Bonney said he had witnessed the murder of Houston Chapman and he was willing to testify against the killers in exchange for a pardon.

Wallace was thrilled. He arranged a secret meeting. The governor and the outlaw would sit in the same room and decide how to finally bring down Jimmy Dolan and Jesse Evans. Billy's letter to Governor Wallace began, Dear Sir, I have heard that you will give $1,000 for my body, which, as I understand it, means alive as a witness.

Billy went on to say he was in Lincoln on the night of the murder to meet Jimmy Dolan for the purpose of making peace. He said he knew who killed Houston Chapman, and he was willing to give the information to Wallace if Wallace would annul the indictments against him for crimes committed during the Lincoln County War. He closed by saying he had no wish to fight anymore, and he was called Kid Antrim, though Antrim was his stepfather's name. He signed the letter, Your Obedient Servant, W.H. Bonney.

A few days later, Billy Bonney met Governor Wallace at the home of the old Justice of the Peace, J.B. Wilson. It was a clandestine nighttime rendezvous that Wallace described 25 years later. He said Billy entered the house slowly and cautiously, as you'd expect. Wallace claimed Billy had a Winchester in one hand and a pistol in the other, but it's impossible to know if these details were true. Wallace talked about the meeting long after Billy had become a legend, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he added a little extra flavor to help spice up the story. Regardless of the details, Billy and Wallace met at Wilson's house in late March 1879. Billy agreed to testify before a grand jury and Wallace agreed to give him a pardon. The plan was for Billy to be arrested

as part of Wallace's big push to crack down on the combatants from the war. Then Billy would receive immunity for his crimes and tell the whole sordid tale. When the meeting ended, Billy rode out of Lincoln to wait for the appointed time of his arrest. But like everything in Billy's life, it wasn't as easy as it should have been. As Billy and Wallace exchanged letters to organize Billy's capture, Billy learned that Jesse Evans and Billy Campbell, the man who had killed Houston Chapman, escaped from jail at Fort Stanton. Apparently, they had convinced a guard to defect from the army and help them escape. This naturally scared Billy, and he sent frantic notes to Wallace to make sure he would be safe when arrested. If Evans and Campbell found out

Billy was about to testify against them and break the peace treaty, they'd kill him on sight. But luckily for Billy, the arrest went off without a hitch. On Friday, March 21st, 1879, Billy Bonney and Tom O'Folliard were arrested and taken to Lincoln. 1879, Billy Bonney and Tom O'Folliard were arrested and taken to Lincoln. They were jailed at Juan Patron's store instead of the Dungeon Jail, and Billy was about to live up to his end of the deal. Three weeks later, the spring court session convened in Lincoln. One year after Billy helped assassinate Sheriff Brady before the court session in the spring of 1878, he testified before a grand jury in April 1879. The judge and the

district attorney were both Dolan supporters. These were the men who had helped Dolan craft all the documents that ultimately started the Lincoln County War. But the grand jury was made up entirely of Tunstall McSween supporters. Billy was true to his word. He testified against the men who killed Houston Chapman, and the men who killed Alex McSween, and the men who killed the second regulator captain, Frank McNabb. It wasn't hard. They were basically the same men. After several days of testimony, the jury of McSween partisans indicted pretty much the entire Dolan faction. They indicted Jimmy Dolan, Jesse Evans, John Kinney, former Sheriff George Pepin, and even Colonel Dudley. In all,

they issued more than 200 indictments, and nearly all were for Dolan men. But the session was viewed as a fraud by many in Lincoln. A jury of McSween supporters had indicted everyone on Dolan's side and almost no one on McSween's side. Billy had been the main witness, but hardly anyone else came forward to support his stories. They were too afraid of Jimmy Dolan. And now, with the court session complete, Billy waited for Governor Wallace to hold up his end of the bargain. Billy was supposed to go to trial in federal court for the murder of Buckshot Roberts on the Apache Reservation and he was supposed to go to trial in territorial court

for the murder of Sheriff Brady. Wallace had assured Billy of a pardon in exchange for his testimony but with the testimony in the books no pardon arrived and Billy was left with one choice, the outlaw trail. By the end of 1879, it would be hard not to view Billy Bonney's situation with a touch of sympathy. Of the 200 indictments he helped levy against Dolan men, almost none went to trial. Most of the Seven Rivers ranchers who

had ridden with Dolan's posses accepted amnesty deals from Governor Wallace. They were free to go. Jesse Evans and Billy Campbell, the man who had murdered Houston Chapman, and many other outlaw types, fled New Mexico territory, most headed for Texas. George Pepin, the former sheriff, and Jimmy Dolan fought the charges against them. Dolan hired former U.S. Attorney and Santa Fe ringleader Thomas Catron to be his lawyer. It was perfectly in line with the old network of corruption, and it paid off. Catron and the legal team were able to move Pepin and Dolan's cases to another county. Once the venue had been changed, they convinced the local district attorney to drop the charges. Jimmy Dolan and George Pepin were free to go.

Colonel Nathan Dudley went through a long and complicated legal process, but he was ultimately exonerated for his actions in the civilian activities called the Lincoln County War. All of Susan McSween's efforts had gone for naught. But there were rumblings of a military court-martial for Dudley as well. The case went all the way up to the United States Secretary of War, but he decided the matter was done. By that point, the Army was sick of the whole affair. General William Tecumseh Sherman, Commander of the Department of the West, General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Department of the West, ordered all legal proceedings against Dudley to stop. And now Dudley was clear of all trouble in Lincoln County, like everyone else.

Everyone except Billy. It was the peak of irony that after Billy laid himself on the line to put away the Dolan faction, he was the only person involved in that spring court session who was still under indictment for crimes committed during the Lincoln County War. Everyone else was free and clear. So while all his enemies worked the legal system to gain their freedom, Billy remained an outlaw, and he went back to the life he had briefly tried to give up, cattle rustling. After Billy and Tom slipped out of Lincoln in June, following the end of the spring court session, they headed north to Las Vegas, New Mexico. And it was there, in late July, that the most astounding meeting in the history

of the West might have taken place. There's no way to verify it, of course, but it's too much fun to ignore. Henry Hoyt, the young doctor in Tascosa, Texas who'd become friends with Billy the year before, was now living in Las Vegas. On this night, he walked into a hotel restaurant and was shocked to see his friend Billy at one of the tables. Billy was eating dinner with a man Hoyt didn't know. When Hoyt walked up to the table, Billy introduced his dinner companion as Mr. Howard from Tennessee. But later in the night, Billy confided a secret to Hoyt. Mr. Howard was really Jesse James. The odds of the most famous outlaw in American history eating dinner with a young man who would become the most infamous outlaw in American history are probably slim. But it makes for a great story.

Thanks for a great story. Billy and Tom didn't spend much time in Las Vegas, and over the next couple months, they actually made a few trips back to Lincoln. On one such risky excursion, Billy found himself in a cabin about six miles south of town. In the night, the Sheriff of Lincoln, George Kimball, and the new commander at Fort Stanton surrounded the cabin with about 15 men. They waited for daylight to capture the most wanted criminal in Lincoln County, but by that point it would be too late. Billy used the trick that had worked so well in his first jailbreak back in Silver City when he was 14 or 15 years old.

He squirmed up the chimney, scaled down the outside, and slipped away into the night. After the close call near Lincoln, Billy headed north again and finally settled in the area that would be his home for the remainder of his life. It was now January 1880, and the remainder of his life was down to just a year and a half. He always liked Fort Sumner. He had plenty of friends in the area, as well as plenty of girlfriends. as plenty of girlfriends. He settled into a routine of dealing cards at a saloon, and along the way, he developed a grudge against cattle baron John Chisholm. Billy had come to believe that Chisholm owed him money for fighting in the Lincoln County War. A Chisholm relative claimed Billy actually confronted John Chisholm in Fort Sumner and demanded to be paid for his services. Chisholm co Fort Sumner and demanded to be paid for his services.

Chisholm coolly responded that he had never hired Billy to fight in the Lincoln County War, and he didn't owe him a dime. Whether or not the direct confrontation happened, Billy and John Chisholm were moving from reluctant allies to sworn enemies very quickly, and Billy's next move didn't help the situation. Billy was in a saloon with John Chisholm's brother, Jim, and some of Jim's ranch hands. A Texas man named Joe Grant was also in the bar,

and he was loudly, violently drunk. And for some reason, he also had a grudge against John Chisholm. While Billy and the Chisholm men were drinking, Joe Grant stumbled up to the ranch hands and yanked a man's gun out of his holster. It was a nice pearl-handled pistol, and apparently Joe decided it was now his. He took his own gun out and dropped it in the ranch hand's holster and put the ranch hand's gun in his own holster. As drunk as Joe was, the ranch hand wisely let the insult slide for the moment. Joe continued drinking and grew more violent. He started smashing things behind the bar. Then he shouted that he was going to kill John Chisholm, and he spun toward Jim Chisholm.

Billy jumped in and said this is the wrong Chisholm. It wasn't John, it was his brother. As Billy turned away, Joe Grant shouted, that's a lie. And then Billy heard the distinctive click of a hammer slamming into an empty shell. Joe had tried to shoot him in the back with the ranch hand's gun. Billy whirled around and unloaded on Joe Grant. He shot him one, two, three times, as it was described later, right in the chin. Joe Grant dropped dead on the floor of the saloon,

because Billy knew something Joe didn't. After Joe had rudely taken the ranch hand's gun, Billy asked if he could look at the fine piece of hardware. Joe had allowed him to admire it, and Billy noticed that there were three spent cartridges in the chamber. Billy deftly spun the cylinder so that the hammer was aligned with one of the empty shells When Joe tried to shoot him in the back, Billy knew he was in no danger Even though Billy had potentially saved Jim Chisholm's life He did not endear himself to the Chisholm family He was already wanted for multiple murders

and was a known thief and had just killed another man in front of a saloon full of witnesses. And he was diving deeper into a cattle rustling operation with a new gang of outlaws. And as always, John Chisholm's cattle were prime targets for stealing. Of all the things Billy did during the handful of years he was in the Lincoln County area,

this was the one that finally brought him down. John Chisholm and the Cattle Kings of Texas decided to put an end to Billy Bonney once and for all. And the man they hired for the job was Pat Garrett. Next time on Legends of the Old West, Billy and his new gang steal horses and cattle and drive them back and forth between New Mexico and Texas. In the process, they make powerful enemies in both places, and those enemies team up to destroy Billy's gang. The ranchers put their considerable resources behind a new man for Lincoln County Sheriff, Pat Garrett, and give him one mission, kill or capture William H. Bonney.

That's next week on Legends of the Old West. Research assistance for this season was provided by Aaron Aylsworth. Original music by Rob Valliere. Editing and sound design by Dave Harrison. I'm your writer and host, Chris Wimmer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Please visit our website, Black Barrel Media, for more details and join us on social media.

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